


The Roof Over My Head

by SunnySinclair



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Clint is terrible at planning, Clint's apartment building, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-09-06 10:49:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8747623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunnySinclair/pseuds/SunnySinclair
Summary: Darcy need a new apartment. Clint owns an apartment building. He should probably tell her at some point that he’s the landlord though, instead of hiding from her when they’re in the building together.





	

Darcy had moved in to the old apartment building in Bed-Stuy without ever meeting the landlord. He’d sent a young woman – barely more than a teenager, actually – to deal with everything.

She wondered what she’d gotten herself in to with this apartment then, since the girl, Kate, as she’d introduced herself, didn’t seem to actually have any real idea what she was doing.

“So, uh, not to question your input or whatever, but why isn’t the landlord taking care of this?”

Kate blew a bubble of bright pink gum and shrugged. “He was busy,” she deflected. “His other job isn’t exactly regular hours. Don’t stress though, he’ll be around to take care of you if there’s any problems with the apartment.”

Darcy decided not to ask any more questions. The place was well sized, clean, and best of all the rent was actually well within her price range. So what if the landlord was kind of weird and shady, she didn’t have to be involved in any of that.

 

“Hawkass!” Darcy greeted, looking up from her computer to see Clint lounging in the lab door. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

“Aw Darce, can’t a guy just come round to say hi to a couple of his favourite ladies?”

“A guy can. You can’t,” Darcy smirked at him.

“Cruel, Darce, so cruel.” Clint grinned. “I was just down visiting Tony. Y'know, bugging him until he makes the toys I want.”

“Ah yes, a grown man and his toys. He making you anything good?”

“Depends if you think things that go boom are good.”

“Depends what you aim them at,” Darcy shot back, earning a laugh from Clint.

“Fair enough. So, you think you can tear yourself away from the thrilling world of…what are you doing right now?”

“Deciphering notes.”

“The thrilling world of note deciphering and grab a coffee with me?”

“One condition.”

Clint raised a brow, but his easy grin didn’t budge. “Sure, name it.”

“You’re not allowed to drink out of the pot.”

“So I can drink out of a carafe?”

Darcy shot him a dirty look, then raised her eyes to the ceiling. “Yeah, fine, you can drink from the carafe.”

She was way too weak when it came to cocky archers with biceps like those.

 

“So, how’s that new apartment?” Clint asked casually once they were seated in the nearby cafe. Clint was actually being appropriate and drinking from a mug and not out of the carafe on their table. “You’ve been there, what, a week now?”

“Yeah,” Darcy nodded. “It’s good. I mean, Brooklyn isn’t close, but it’s a hell of a lot closer than I thought I was gonna get. I’m pretty sure there has to be something majorly wrong with it for the price, but I haven’t figured out what yet. Maybe the landlord really is in to shady stuff and he’s practically giving the apartments away as a cover for something.”

Clint’s eyebrows climbed up and he looked startled for a second. “What, why do you think the landlord’s shady?”

“Well I haven’t met the guy,” Darcy shrugged. “And the girl he sent to show me around said a couple of things that sounded super suss.”

Clint’s confusion turned in to a scowl and he muttered something under his breath.

“What?” Darcy asked.

“Huh? Oh, nothing, don’t worry about it. Um, if you want I could check the place out, make sure it’s on the level?”

“That’s sweet, but I’m ok.”

“You sure? If there’s anything illegal going on then it’s kind of my job to do something about it. Avenger, remember?”

Darcy rolled her eyes and poked Clint’s shin with the toe of her boot. “You just want an excuse to get an invite to my place.”

Clint grinned slowly and Darcy dropped her eyes, not willing to meet his gaze. “Maybe I do. Am I gonna get it?”

Darcy didn’t give him an answer, just stuck her tongue out at him then hid her smile behind her coffee cup.

 

“You’re being creepy,” Kate said from behind him, and Clint groaned. He’d ducked out of sight to avoid Darcy spotting him whilst she was at her mailbox and Kate had caught him.

“Shut up Kate,” he said, turning around and standing tall, arms crossed. The intimidation did nothing to Kate, who just snorted at him.

“Why don’t you just ask her out, instead of creeping around watching her and giving her a cheap place to live.”

“It’s my building, I can charge whatever I want for rent.” Even to his ears it sounded like a whine.

“Sure. But you think she’s gonna be thanking you when she finds out you’re the guy in charge around here?”

“I’m going to tell her soon,” Clint promised. “Just…want her to get settled in first. Which reminds me, what the hell did you say to her? She thinks I’m running some illegal shit out of the building.”

Kate grinned slowly. “I just said you’re second job can be unpredictable. And you’d take care of her when she needed it.”

“Kate!” Clint groaned. “What the hell?”

“Well think of it this way,” she said impishly. “The sooner you fess up to being a creeper with a crush the sooner she stops thinking you’re a shady bastard.” Clint shot her a glare, grumbling under his breath, then turned his back on her to check that Darcy was gone before he came out of hiding.

 

It was almost three months in to her lease and Darcy still hadn’t caught so much as a glimpse of the landlord. According to a couple of the other tenants he lived there too, and was very hands on making sure their homes were all in working order, but to Darcy he was like a myth.

Clint had taken to asking after her place every time they hung out.

“Why don’t you just come and check it out?” Darcy finally said.

“Yeah?” Clint asked, surprised.

“Yeah,” Darcy said. “You wore me down.” She gave him a smirk and Clint smiled back.

“Not what I was aiming for, but I’ll take it. How about dinner tomorrow? I’ll bring the pizza?”

“That mean I supply the beer?”

“Well if you wanna supply beer I’m not going to say no.”

“Cool. Well, how about you come over around seven? And Clint? No anchovies. I am so not going near you if you’ve got anchovy breath.”

“So if there’s no anchovies does that mean you’ll get close?” Clint grinned. He laughed loudly when Darcy made a face at him, but it hadn’t been a no…

Maybe Clint was crazy, but he was starting to feel like maybe all this casual flirting with Darcy might actually be heading somewhere. Somewhere he really wanted to go.

 

He was only five minutes late to her place, which in Barton time was like being thirty minutes early. Darcy opened the door and stared at him with wide eyes. “Holy shit, you’re not crazy late. You must really like me.”

Clint flushed a little but was saved from having to come up with something to say when Darcy spotted his dog by his heels.

“Oh my gods!” She squealed. “Is this Lucky? Hi girl! Oh you’re a gorgeous pup aren’t you?” She cooed at the dog, petting and scratching at her ears, and Lucky gave a happy woof, her tail flying back and forth.

Clint knew bringing her along was a good idea. And it wasn’t just because she’d made super sad eyes at him – even sadder, given she only had one eye - when he’d gone to walk out the door with the fresh pizza.

“We should probably get inside, I don’t know what the policy is on pets in here,” Darcy said, stepping back to let them through the door.

“Uh, yeah, good idea,” Clint nodded, glancing down at the dog as he walked through the door. “Hey, you did get beer!”

“Of course I got you beer, who d'you thnk you’re talking to?”

“A bequtiful and wonderful human being?”

Darcy winked at him. “Good come back. You get points for that one.”

“Do I get points for the anchovy free pizza too?” Clint asked hopefully, then glanced at Lucky who was sitting on Darcy’s foot and leaning against her leg. “Is the dog worth any of these points? Because I’m not above using her to get on your good side.”

Darcy laughed loudly, freeing her foot and heading to the soda to sit. She pat the cushion next to her and had to stop Lucky from bounding on up.

“I’ll just say you’re not doing badly. Yet.”

“Yet? Aw man, that sounds like there’s some guaranteed fuck ups coming in my future.”

Darcy just shot him another wink and turned the TV on.

By the end of the first movie Darcy was leaning in to Clint’s side and she just flashed him a smile when he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, feeling inordinately pleased with himself.

They were halfway through the second movie, the pizza mostly gone and a couple of empty beer bottles on the table, when Darcy piped up. “So, when were you gonna tell me you’re my landlord?”

Clint froze, hardly daring to look at her. When he did though she didn’t look pissed.

“Um, soon?” He asked, rubbing at the back of his neck.

Darcy snorted and gave a shake of her head. “That sounds a lot like ‘when I got caught’.”

“Are you mad?” He winced.

“A little? But not really, no,” Darcy said. “I mean, I’m more annoyed we’ve been living in the same building for months and you never mentioned it.”

“How’d you figure it out?” He asked after a beat.

“Dude, you are so not subtle,” Darcy laughed. “You’re an Avenger, remember? And your tenants know it. Plus I’m betting there’s not a lot of people around with one eyed yellow labs named Lucky.”

At her name, the dog lifted her head, and Darcy reached out to give her another scratch behind the ear.

“Huh, yeah… I guess I didn’t really think about you talking to the other guys around here.”

“It’s a good thing you’re cute,” Darcy sighed. “Hawkguy.”

“Aw man, you’ve been talking to the guy on the roof haven’t you?”

“There was a barbecue up there a couple of weeks ago.”

“Of course there was,” Clint sighed. “I’m sorry I didn’t just tell you from the start.”

“Why didn’t you?” Darcy asked, sitting up to look him in the face properly.

“Um, is it dumb if I say I was worried you wouldn’t take the place if you knew it was mine?”

“Yep,” Darcy nodded. “It’s definitely dumb.”

“So you’re not insulted or anything that I interfered and gave it to you so cheap?”

She gave him a look. “Are you crazy? I’m an almost broke girl with a low paying job. Nothing would stop me taking advantage of anything that’s gonna get me a better price. On anything. My pride is so not worth being homeless over.”

Clint flopped back a little. He hadn’t even noticed how tense he’d felt, but with Darcy’s reaction he was feeling a lot better.

“Like I said, good thing you’re cute,” Darcy grinned. And without anything more she tossed a leg over his lap and settled in, her arms winding around his shoulders.

“Um…” Clint wheezed, all his smooth abandoning him in light of this situation. Darcy rolled her eyes and took his hands, settling them on her waist. “Are you gonna make me take care of all of this?” She demanded, arms going around his neck again.

“Hell no,” Clint finally got out, gripping her tight and finally kissing her.


End file.
